Intro
This isn't really going to be
anything as pretentious as an "alternative" guide, merely a few
comments, suggestions and information based on our experiences over the
last few years.
We're assuming that any English-speakers interested in hillwalking in
Japan will buy, beg, borrow or steal a copy of the "
Lonely
Planet Hiking in Japan Guide". It's a goldmine of detailed
information which contains everything you need to know to get out and
about. However, it was published in 2001, and although things haven't
changed much, it is not quite 100% up-to-date. Also, we have a few
ideas for minor changes to their suggested itineraries (and completely
unrelated walks) which we think
are worth considering.
The biggest problem with the LP guide is that they recommend a set of
maps that now appear to be defunct. We invariably use the "yama to
kougen" (山と高原) series which are very good and easily available at all
decent bookshops. Note that paths and huts do occasionally change over
time!
The info is likely to remain a bit disorganised, but that is what
Google
and/or text searching is
for...
Please
send us an
email if you have any suggestions/corrections.
General info
This
page is the best Japanese translator we know of. Paste a
URL into the appropriate box (
this
page has a box for pasting text into) and make sure the 日ー＞英 radio
button is
clicked.
A general-purpose train routfinder/timetable in English is
here. It
sometimes takes odd roundabout routes, so breaking the jouney down
(eg home -> Shinjuku, Shinjuku -> destination) may be worth
trying.
Some links to more localised bus timetables etc are given in the
descriptions of the relevant walks and hut info.
Suggested walks
Kamikochi area 上高地
If, like us, you are not keen on an overnight coach, then you might
prefer to tackle the Hotaka-Yari ridge from south to north. The 8am
Super Azusa from Shinjuku connects with the 10:50 Matsumoto Dentetsu
and
11:30 bus at Shin-Shimashima, ariving in Kamikochi at 12:40, from where
the Dakesawa hut half-way up Hotakadake is easily accessible. Walking
in this direction, you can spend the next night at Hodakasansou or the
Kita-Ho hut and
spend the afternoon/evening thinking about the daikiretto.
There are several obvious routes down via Karasawa Col (highly
recommended in autumn for the colours), and it you are going further
then Yaridakesansou is easily reachable for the third night. When
returning down the valley to Kamikochi, you'll have plenty of time to
get a bus out. Alternatively, continue on the ridge towards Murodo and
you can finish the week on Tsurugidake as we did in 2004.
Alpico
group (Matsumoto Dentetsu railway and bus) timetables. I think that
pdf file is broken but a bit of googling finds
this on-line
copy of the timetable.
Shiroumadake 白馬岳
From Hakuba station 白馬駅, we got the
bus
to Sarukura 猿倉 by early afternoon and walked to Hakuba-jiri-goya
for the night. Then to the summit, where the weather turned poor so we
stayed overnight before walking out to the north (rather than the more
difficult ridge to the south), getting a
bus
from Tsugaike kougen 栂池高原. We have now also
completed a longer walk,
following the ridge south via Goryuudake (五竜岳) and Kashimayarigatake
(鹿島槍ヶ岳) to Ogisawa (扇沢) as in the LP guide. This is a great walk,
almost on a par with the main Kita Alps ridge. The scrambling is
substantially less demanding than the "other" dai-kiretto (Hotaka-Yari)
but it's still fun and has amazing views. The south end of the walk can
be extended round Ogisawa as we did, or even further if you like. We
went up one "daisekkei" (big snowy valley) and down another - instep
crampons (decent cheap ones are sold at Hakuba-jiri-goya and can be
rented at the Ogisawa end) are recommended, but not essential if you
don't mind slithering about a bit.
Kinpusan and Kobushigatake 金峰山 甲武信ヶ岳
These easy pleasant hills are adjacent to the more impressive
Yatsugatake, and are omitted from the LP guide. They should be walkable
all year with no really severe technical icy bits (you'll still want
some proper kit though). We have done this walk in both directions. The
Kinpusan end can be approached via the
Shinokawakami-Kawabatashita
bus (信濃川上 川端下) or Mizugakisansou. The ridge may be a bit long for a
single day (especially in snow), and the Ohdarumigoya splits the
distance. Kobushigoya is easily accessed from Nishisawa keikoku (西沢渓谷),
where there is a low-level walk with waterfalls, and a
bus out.
These huts are open at Oshougatsu, it would be a
suitable winter walk but instead for New Year 2005 we did the shorter:
Mizugakisan 瑞牆山
A fun winter walk, we did it on New Year's Day 2005 as a day walk from
the Mizugakisansou hut (where we spent the 2 nights either side).
Despite the
apparently rocky peak, it was a straightforward walk (quite strenuous
in deep fresh snow). It should be easy enough to combine all 3 of these
hyakumeizan in one multi-day trip. We also took our friends Jacqui and
Joel
up Kinpusan and down past Mizugakisan on a 2 day trip in mid November,
when
there was a touch of snow and ice but nothing too difficult. There is a
bus
service to the top of the road, which stops at a good onsen (
Masutominoyu 増富の湯) too.
Yatsugatake 八ヶ岳
Rather than just up and down from the sides as the LP guide suggests,
we walked this along the ridge from south to north. The first part of
walk in from the station was a bit of a trudge, the ridge has some
interesting rocky bits and the hut on the summit is good. After a long
walk out, we had time for the rather grotty onsen at Shibu no yu 渋の湯
before getting
the bus.
To-no-take 塔ノ岳
The ascent from Okura is pretty nasty - a huge messy eroded busy path.
If intstead you get the bus to Yabitsu-toge ヤビツ峠, then you get to enjoy
a
nice quiet ridge walk to the summit, and the descent to Okura is fast
and easy. The obvious extension to Tanzawayama 丹沢山 and back would make
this
quite a long day walk. Alternatively, continue along the ridge as in
the LP guide.
Minami Alps 南アルプス
If you can't get up early enough, then the 10am
bus from Kofu
(in summer) gets to
Hirogawara around 12:12. From there, Shirone Oike goya is easily
reachable in 2 or 3 hours. On the next day, you should be able to reach
Kuma no daira goya and get back on the LP schedule. Towards the end of
our trip in 2005, we took a short day from Arakawagoya over Akaishidake
to Hyakkenbora yama no ie and spent the night there, then the following
day we had a lovely morning on Usagi and Hijiri dake and long walk out
to Sawarajima Lodge and spent another night there before the long trip
home. Given enough time, we are sure this is preferrable to the LP's
approach of a long day to Hijiridaira goya (a worse hut, and the Usagi
dake - Hijiri dake ridge would be hard work towards the end of a long
day with thunderstorms to dodge) and then to Sawarajima and the long
trip home in a day.
Tokai
Forest 東海フォレスト run many of the huts in the southern Minami Alps
area, and their
web pages have a lot of info - even menus! They also run the
bus
between Sawarajima Lodge/Nikengoya lodge (higher up the valley) and
Hatanagi dai-ichi dam, which connects with the
Shizutetsu bus to
Shizuoka Eki.
There are several possible 3-4 loops from Sawarajima Lodge/Nikengoya
that look
excellent (eg 2 or 3 of Arakawadake, Akaishidake, Hijiridake) but
travelling to and from the endpoint would be rather time-consuming. I
haven't worked out how best to tackle Tekaridake 光岳 (so where does that
reading come from?) which seems rather inaccessible.
Fuji-san 富士山
This is not really a particularly attractive walk, but seems to be
amazingly popular with the gaijin (especially) who made up a far higher
proportion of the walkers here than anywhere else we have been (there
are, of course, plenty of Japanese too). I guess it is the obvious
choice if you have a limited time here and want a some memorable
achievement, but it's a shame that so few of them see any of the nicer
regions. The walkers seem a generaly younger crowd than are found on
other hills, which may explain some off the ethnic mix (by the time
people are our age or older, perhaps they've got more sense than to go
on an all-night walk in the cloud). For
our trip, we got the bus to and
from Shinjuku, 10:55am on the way out and noon the next day on the way
back (
timetable
here, note it is very sparse outside the official season of July
and August), which seems a sound plan for the standard sunrise ascent
via the Kawaguch-ko/Yoshidaguchi route. I'd advise people to rest as
high as possible (eg Fuji-san hotel at 8th station) so as to have an
easier time in the crowds the next morning. The circuit of the summit
is well worth it if you have the time and decent weather.
Hut reviews (most recently visited date)
We have never tried to book ahead (but groups of 10 or more certainly
should do so), and have never found a hut at - or over :-) - 100%
capacity. Some have been very very close to full eg over the weekend in
Obon, but by arriving reasonably early, at least we generally get a
fairly good spot.
Hyakkenbora
yama no ie (Hyakkanbora yama no ie) 百間洞山の家 (Aug 2005)
This is a must-stay hut, for the wonderful tonkatsu set dinner and
filling fried egg and sausage breakfast. If only all yamagoya put as
much effort into their food... Also, make sure you order the "soda
bread" in the afternoon, and you'll have a freshly-baked fruit scone to
add to your packed lunch in the morning. The bedding was a bit minimal
when we were there.
Arakawagoya 荒川小屋 (Aug 2005)
A good eat-all-you-can curry rice, rather overshadowed by our
subsequent night at Hyakkenbora yama no ie. Bedding was spartan.
Sanpuku-mine-goya 三伏峰小屋 (Aug 2005)
Spacious, comfortable, good food (but raw egg for breakfast). Note that
the nearby Sanpuku goya is shut (perhaps permanently?) and paths past
it are closed.
Dakesawa Hut
岳沢ヒュッテ (Oct 2005)
Another hut with good food, a convenient 2-2 1/2 hour walk from
Kamikochi and therefore a handy place to stop if you don't like
overnight buses and instead arrive in Kamikochi around midday (8am
Super Azusa from Shinjuku connects with 10:50 Matsumoto Dentetsu and
11:30 bus at Shin-Shimashima, ariving in Kamikochi at 12:40). There's a
great view down the valley as you sit outside
sipping your nama-biru and snacking on edamame after the steep climb.
Some small private rooms if you are lucky (or book ahead). Sadly the
Dakesawa hut was damaged last winter (2005-6) and according to
this
web page it looks like it will be out of action for the 2006 season.
Kuma
no daira goya 熊の平小屋 (Aug 2005)
Picturesque setting, but the food left something to be desired (jules
says "woefully inadequate"). Disappointing given the LP Guide's
enthusiastic write-up. Yes, it has a bear-skin.
Kita-Ho 北穂高岳
(Aug 2004)
Another wonderful site perched right at the top of Kita-hodaka. A good
chunk of pork for dinner and all night to look forward to the
daikiretto.
Hodakasansou
穂高岳山荘 (Oct 2005)
A high-class comfortable hut, the only problems are (1) people
getting up stupidly early for sunrise (an inevitable problem with
being close to a summit) and (2) the raw egg for breakfast (jules says
the miso paste hides the taste pretty well). If you are descending via
Karasawa, it's worth the short climb up to Karasawadake first for the
views on a clear morning.
Mizugakisansou
瑞垣山荘 (Dec2004-Jan 2005)
More of a guest house than yamagoya, it's acessible by road and has a
bus
service. On 31 Dec they served a rather posh banquet (eg venison
tataki) but I think the food is usually more normal. Has a bath. Also
enjoy the
Masutominoyu onsen
on the way out, if you have time.
Odarumigoya
大弛小屋 (May 2006)
Quiet even in golden week (when Kobushigoya was heaving). Useful to
break the long ridge walk between Kobushigatake and Kinpusan.
Kinpusan
Yamagoya 金峰山小屋 (Nov 2005)
Um...a hut. Perfectly adequate, not outstanding. There's a good view of
the surrrounding hills which makes for a lovely sunset. Near the
summit, so watch out for the hinode hunters!
Kobushigoya 甲武信小屋 (May 2006)
Another decent hut with a plentiful beef stew/curry rice.
Yokoosansou
横尾山荘 (May 2006)
A hut with a bath! About 2h from Kamikouchi, so also handy for the
short day after the long journey - especially with the Dakesawa hut
currently out of action (see above). Spacious bedding (we've not been
there in high season) and plenty of proper food.
Karasawa Hut 涸沢ヒュッテ
(May 2006)
It's always looked busy at peak times, but we had the place almost to
ourselves on a Monday in late May. The food was very good.
Fuji-san Hotel 富士山ホテル (Aug 2006)
Don't be fooled by the name, it's just a hut! Sometimes described as
"gaijin friendly" on the internet, but we've never found one to be
unfriendly (compared to, say, a typical French hotel :-) ) so I'm not
sure what that is about. I think that all the Fuji huts have a pretty
basic curry-rice/noodles 24h food service to cater for the random
night-time comings and goings. Staying high helps minimise the
nightmare of the pre-dawn crowds, but the ~3350m altitude makes
sleeping hard (for us, anyway).
Hakuba
jiri-goya 白馬尻小屋 (Aug 2006)
Quite busy, presumably because it's so well-placed for the daisekkei
and Shiroumadake. It's only an hour up the path from the bus-stop, well
worth the effort given the long climb to come on the next day (assuming
you don't travel at some mad unearthly hour and get all the way to the
summit on the same day). You can buy cheap instep crampons here, which
are actually quite good.
Tengu sansou 天狗山荘
(Aug 2006)
It's much quieter once you are past Shiroumadake, and this hut had good
food. The view would probably be lovely but we didn't see it!
Goryuu sansou 五竜山荘
(Aug 2006)
A great view of Goryuudake.
Kirettogoya
キレット小屋 (Aug 2006)
A lovely site wedged into a gap in the ridge, looking out towards
Tsurugidake. Really good food too. Make sure you pick up a bento for
the next day - we had a lovely una-don. Stay here!
Shinkoshi sansou 新越山荘
(Aug 2006)
Seems a lot nicer (and quieter) than the rather grotty Taneike sansou,
and it's still an easy walk from here to Ogisawa via Kuginokidake.